Linda's Revenge
by KESwriter
Summary: Spoilers for "Last Gasp." Linda Barnes proves to be more dangerous and diabolical than any unsub they have ever in encountered in the past. Warning: Character death.
1. Chapter 1

I'm turning my recent development of insomnia into something productive. Keep in mind, this is labeled crime/horror for a reason. It isn't like my other stories. My "From Russia with Terror" sequel has an outline that I am working on. I just need to get this one out of my system.

Linda's Revenge

It took three months of meticulous planning. Three months that was a combination of research, surveillance, and anticipating problems. All the while she toiled away in doing meaningless work for the FBI. She was prevented from glowing in the spotlight and receiving the attention Linda so desperately craved.

The BAU was nothing but a group of arrogant fools. They were high on their own power to do whatever they wanted. They claimed they cared for people, but they were no different from her in their need for validation. Cuffing unsubs made them feel good, but it did nothing to promote the image of the FBI in the way she could. Without question, she believed they were all rotten to the core.

They really believed that she could be sidelined without consequences. In their eyes, she was a villain, not a crusader for justice. Linda was determined show them what a real villain looked like and how destroying her reputation was the biggest mistake they would ever make.

…

It was a leisurely Saturday night for Spencer Reid. He chose to visit a coffee shop and read a book while there. Quickly losing track of time, the ten-minute closing announcement was given. Walking out, he felt good as he had read a lot of his book and enjoyed it a great deal.

As he walked home to his apartment, he suddenly felt a gun to his back.

"Give me your phone," a muffled voice said.

He shakily pulled it out. The person grabbed it and tucked it away.

"Take whatever else you want," he said trying to sound calm.

"I will," the muffled voice said. "Including you."

Guiding him with the gun, the person pushed him into the back seat of a near-by car. He tried to unlock once he was in, but the locks were on. The person quickly got in and Reid could see the person had on a full ski mask. He also noted that the person had the figure of a woman.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The woman briefly turned around and Tasered him.

"Any other dumb questions?"

Once the pain subsided, he shook his head.

"Good," she said.

The woman drove quickly, but careful not to exceed the speed limit. After about ten minutes, he realized where they were going: To see Prentiss.

…

Prentiss was enjoying a fine glass of wine when her door buzzed.

"It's Spencer," he said shakily. "I need to talk to you."

He sounded terrified.

"Come on up," she said in her most soothing voice.

A few minutes, there was a knocking on her door. She opened the door to find Reid being held at gun-point by a masked woman.

The woman forced her way in with Reid being used as shield. She Tasered Prentiss with a powerful charge, and then pulled out a syringe and stabbed Reid with it. As Prentiss shook, the woman ran in the direction of her kitchen and pulled out a butcher knife. She slashed her clothes off.

When Prentiss was done shaking, the woman pulled off her mask and leaned over her. It was Linda Barnes.

"Doing anything stupid and I'll kill Reid," she said.

Prentiss reached for her throat.

"How do I know you won't kill Reid anyway?" she asked fiercely.

"Because I want him to suffer," she said.

She pulled out another syringe and stabbed her in the neck.

…

Prentiss woke up briefly and found Reid next her in her bed wearing nothing but boxers. She also noticed she was bleeding from the chest. Prentiss knew she didn't have much time.

Barnes was staring at her with a gleeful smile.

"In case you were wondering, the drugs I used will won't be traceable."

"You really are a cold-hearted freak," Prentiss spat out.

She began to stab her with vicious rage. Prentiss was losing consciousness.

"Why Reid?" she asked with one of her last breaths.

"The ultimate torture for J.J."

The pain was unbearable, but she couldn't scream. She was too weak. Tears leaked down her face as she thought of the fate that awaited Reid.

"Goodbye, Emily," she said with a smile. "You should have never messed with me."

"Screw you," she tried to say but it only came out as a whisper.

She tried to reach for Reid's hand managed to touch his fingers in her last moment of life.

…

Everything went according to plan. She made sure Reid was dripping in Prentiss' blood and his finger prints were in the right location on the knife. Barnes had been studying up on crime scene analysis and crafted the scenario she wanted the police to believe. She spread out their clothes accordingly and took the outfit she had slashed off Prentiss it in the pack she carried.

In the end, Barnes was exceptionally pleased with her handiwork. Reid wouldn't wake up for several more hours and would be devasted by what he had done. His act of insubordination still burned her even as J.J. was her main target.

Careful to avoid surveillance cameras, she left using a service elevator and crept out.

Now all she had to do was wait for the team implode. She might not have a front-row seat but hearing the gossip would sooth her. Barnes didn't doubt they would figure out it was her. She made sure it was impossible to prove it though and that would eat at the team for the rest of their lives. Who said revenge couldn't be sweet?

Author's Note:

This is not the end. I am not going to reveal my hand. I just want you know that I intend to provide some closure, though it might not be what some of you are expecting, especially given my writing style. Consider this the dark side of KESwriter.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter Two:

Fiona Duncan refused to represent him this time. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Reid's innocence, it was because Prentiss was her friend and she couldn't stand looking at the crime scene photos. Rossi ended up hiring someone for him, named Ed Dalton. For all his impressive credentials, Reid could tell he thought he was guilty. Reid couldn't blame him, even as it made him bitter.

"We'll get you out," J.J. said from behind the glass. "We did it once and we'll do it again."

"You know it isn't that simple this time around Jennifer," he said sadly. "This took meticulous planning. There won't be any paper trails to track. She is just too good."

"Everyone has a flaw," she said fiercely. "And people do believe you were coerced into that building."

He shook his head and looked down. "I could have tried to send her a message when she answered the intercom. I just wasn't smart enough."

"You would have died if went off script," she said.

"How was her funeral?" he asked changing the subject.

"Lovely," she said and wiped away a tear. "Her friends from Interpol came and we all swapped stories."

"J.J.," Reid said softly. "I'm not getting out of this."

"But you will!" she said angrily. "I promise."

"Let's just make sure my mom is taken care of," he said.

"Visiting hours are over!" the guard announced.

Reid waved sadly as he left. Dalton had told him to take the deal. Twenty to life. Little did he know had already made a deal.

…

J.J. woke up in the middle of the night to her phone ringing.

"Is this Jennifer Jareau, the emergency contact for Spencer Reid?" the voice said.

"Yes, it is," she said breathlessly. "Is he okay?"

"I am sorry to tell you that Spencer Reid has been murdered while in custody," she said.

"What happened?" she asked trying sound calm as she fell apart.

"I only know pieces. Apparently, he picked a fight in the prison yard and as retribution his throat was sliced."

"What? Spencer never picks fights! Never!"

"That is all that I know Ma'am. Do you know where you want his remains to be transferred to?"

"Give me your number and I'll call you back."

"Okay," she said.

J.J. took down the numbers and hung up the phone.

Will already had his arms around her.

"Why?" she sobbed. "Why?"

…

It was apparent in a letter he had put in the mail the day of his death.

 _Dear J.J.,_

 _I love you like a sister. I love Henry and Michael as if they were my own sons. I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger._

 _I didn't like what prison did to me the first time I wan in there and I knew I was going to be facing worse this second time. I saw all the evidence. I knew what untraceable drug had been put in my system. The case was air-tight. I am a coward J.J. and I'm sorry._

 _You will see in my will that I have arranged for all my assets to be transferred to you with the stipulation that you use some of it to oversee my mother's care. The rest will go to the boys for their college education. I had always planned to help finance their education and I hope you will accept the money._

 _Yes, she beat me, but not you. Not the rest of the team. Do what you need to do to find peace. I love you and I want you to be happy. I'm sorry I couldn't be happy with you._

 _Spencer_

 _PS: Please destroy after reading. I think you know why._

It was a precaution in case they suspected that Reid planned his own death. She burned it on the stove.

"Goodbye Spence," she said.

…

While Prentiss' funeral was terrible, Reid's was too much. Morgan ran out halfway through his reading. Rossi tried to stay stoic as he read the eulogy but crumbled at the end. They tried to get Diana to come for closure, but she tried to run once they reached the burial site and a nurse stayed with her in the car.

Henry and Michael each placed a rose on the coffin.

"Where do you think he is?" Henry asked.

"Traveling the stars," she tried to say optimistically.

"Like an astronaut?"

"Better, because he doesn't need a suit," she said. "He's probably exploring the galaxy with Emily when he isn't watching over you."

"I miss him," he said.

"I do too," she said and hugged him tightly. "I do too."

…

Barnes shifted her groceries to her hip as she unlocked her apartment door. She entered the kitchen and suddenly dropped her groceries.

J.J. was sitting at the kitchen table with her gun with a silencer aimed directly at her.

"Congratulations," she said. "Two of my team members are dead, Rossi is retiring to California, and Garcia is going into the private sector along with Lewis. Alvez and Simmons are transferring out. Leaving just me. You won, Linda Barnes. Congratulations."

"You have no proof I did anything," she said angrily.

"I don't need any," she said. "Because who else would hate my friends as much as you to set up such a plan?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said.

"Lying to the end," J.J. said. "I should expect nothing less from you."

J.J. pulled the trigger. Barnes was dead before she hit the ground.

…

They never did discover who killed Linda Barnes. Some believed it was someone from her past who had come back for revenge. The truth wasn't far off, but no one could pin it on J.J.'s alibi of being at the movies paid for with her credit card. People didn't suspect how easy it was to sneak of back entrances. No one would say it but finding who killed Barnes wasn't a top priority for anyone. Her cold ambition made her impossible to like, so there was a certain lack of conviction in searching for her killer. It was just another unsolved case put in cold storage.

After a year of trying to put a team together, J.J. quit to be a full-time mother. In her spare time, she and Rossi exchanged emails as he taught her art of writing a book. It was a work of fiction as real life was still too painful.

Once a year, the team would gather to remember Prentiss and Reid. Their tomb stones were next to each other even when some thought it was in bad taste. They lit candles and shared memories. Their stories were unfinished, but they would live on in the people who would love them forever.

THE END

I know. Tragic, sad, and dark. Not every story can have a happy ending. My next one should be more uplifting.


End file.
